An increased need for healthcare services in the United States will likely push demand for MOB space well above supply in several markets, according to a new report from Transwestern.

“The segment of the population at or over the age of 65 is growing at a rate 14 times faster than those aged 64 or younger,” said Jay Johnson, managing director of Healthcare Advisory Services for Transwestern. “A greater demand for healthcare services means more workers, and this is going to make healthcare space much tighter in some markets.”

Titled “Medical Office Space Gets Tight,” the report bases its forecast on the anticipated growth of healthcare workers through 2019, and compares average space usage per work to space that now exists or is currently under construction in 14 markets.

More than 150,000 healthcare practitioners will be added to the economy over the next two years, according to current projections, and total demand for medical office space across the U.S. could range from 150.5 million to 225.8 million square feet by the end of 2019.

As of second quarter 2018, approximately 110 million square feet of medical office space is available in existing and under-construction buildings, according to Elizabeth Norton, the author of the report and managing director of research for Transwestern. “If all healthcare practitioners added to the economy through 2019 aim to locate within medical office space, absorption of this demand is impossible without a major shift in how people expect and receive healthcare,” she noted.

New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Denver and Miami-Fort Lauderdale would be the most challenging for practitioners wishing to locate within medical office space.

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